David L. Tornetto, ChFC®
Retirement Planning Specialist

168 N. Meramec, Suite 210

th

__ St Louis, MO 63105
)O Street “1 Office: (314) 964-7878
Financial | cell (314) 374-6676
David@38streetfa.com

www. 38streetia.com

Representative Ann Wagner
43S Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative Ann Wagner:

| am writing to express my informed and educated opinion that the Department of Labor’s April 14,
2015 proposal to change the ERISA definition of fiduciary will cause considerable damage to the retirement
security of millions of Americans.

If implemented as drafted, this proposal will dramatically reduce the availability of comprehensive,
personalized retirement and investment education and advice for millions of low and middle-income savers
and retirees. These concerns are founded on my practice as a licensed and registered financial professional
with years of experience helping my clients plan for a comfortable and secure retirement.

The Department's objective, which | share, is to ensure that retirement plan participants, individual
retirement account investors, and their families have ongoing access to high quality retirement savings
advice delivered by professional financial and investment advisers in accordance with sound, ethical
business practices.

However, the practical consequence of the proposal will be to drive up the costs of providing advice,
due to the substantial redundant compliance requirements and heightened potential litigation risks. In
particular, due to the overly narrow investment education exception and withdrawal of the traditional
seller’s exemption, individuals with more modest account balances, including many younger investors who
stand to benefit the most from receiving professional retirement and investment advice at an early age, may
likely be excluded entirely from receiving full-service investment advice.

A recent Insured Retirement Institute study, “Boomer Expectations for Retirement 2015,” highlights
the vital role of professional investment advice in effective retirement planning for all segments of society,
including women and minorities. Should the proposed rules go into effect as currently drafted, the
conclusions of a 2011 report by Oliver Wyman Inc. still apply: over seven million retirement plan investors
with modest account balances will be at substantial risk of being dropped by their current investment

advisers and/or forced into low-service accounts with no access to meaningful and individually tailored
investment advice.

4600), member FINRA, SIPC.

David L. Tornetto, ChFO®, CLU*, offers securities and investment advisory s
AXA Network, LLC. and its insuran @
of Pennsyivan

nd offers annuity and insurance products through
Retrement Planning from The Wharton School, University



Accordingly, | strongly believe the proposal should be modified to address the above concerns by:

e Restoring the traditional seller’s exemption;

¢ Expanding the investment education exception; and

¢ Harmonizing the ERISA fiduciary standard with the existing, robust SEC investment advisory
fiduciary standard.

Thank you for your consideration.

Respectfully,

( Deaete

David L. Tornetto

cc: The Honorable Thomas E. Perez
Secretary

U.S. Department of Labor

200 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20210

talktodol@dol.gov